The Downward Soap Spiral Accelerates

Bonjour, everyone. This November will mark 20th anniversary of my becoming Marlena De Lacroix, soap critic. Marlena’s mission has always been to write the truth as I see it, no matter how impolitic.

But now, for me — I repeat, for me — it’s clear that we’ve reached the end stage of network daytime soap opera, a medium we have watched forever and loved so much. Perhaps that’s why I find watching soaps and writing criticism so difficult

For years, we’ve watched and believed plots that would be unlikely or even ridiculous if they actually happened. But the secret of great soap opera is that the best and brightest writers knew how to craft and pace storylines so that they were EMOTIONALLY believable. Not any more. Not now!

right now. Fans, posters and columnists are angry and hurt. A critic can beat soaps with a baseball bat every single week, but what’s the point? I used to write about soaps because they were fun to write about, sheer joy! Now, watching these shows’ desperate struggle to survive agonizes me.

So here are my thoughts on the painful soap world events and stories of the past few weeks:

The usual flow of actors coming and going, joining shows and leaving shows has become hyper-manic. The last two weeks saw at least a dozen exits and entrances and role switches by such big names as Sarah Brown(General Hospital to The Bold and the Beautiful); the shocking upcoming exits of megastars Eric Braeden (The Young and the Restless) and Thorsten Kaye (All My Children), and the bombshell that James Franco is coming to General Hospital for a limited stay. All this makes for exciting everyday internet fodder, but in the grand scheme of things, it is NOT good news.

What the industry is mostly doing (except for Franco) is rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic, hoping for survival. Every show seems to be hiring, looking for quick ratings hikes, and some shows are actually throwing Hail Mary passes in hope of a miracle. Others are betting the entire history and character of their show on a few really shocking stories. A few are good. But more are awful and some are entirely self-defeating. The Titanic just keeps on sinking.

The era of desperation has rendered the “reality” of some soap unbelievable, even for a soap fan who, like me, has accepted everything on every soap over for decades. In the last two weeks on Y&R, we’ve had a baby switch, powered by a fake baby death and a hysterical pregnancy; the needless operatic death of a very young woman, dying because of the actions of a longago evil, now ‘good’ leading man and a lady psycho, while another brave young woman is continuing to recover from an ovarian cancer operation. (Little Summer is still mysteriously ‘brain damaged.’) Meanwhile, the shot and dying (and now guilty) leading man needs a heart transplant, the source of the heart being argued over by warring families. And then there’s another death and the transplant. All this in TWO WEEKS! This is way beyond the usual intensity of November sweeps. It’s October insanity!

Years ago, this would be enough story to power four years of any soap. I don’t believe in the “reality” of this soap any more. I don’t care how absolutely beautifully a number one rated soap like Y&R is produced and acted. I have to believe a soap opera’s reality is somewhat plausible in order to enjoy it. Y&R is helter skelter! Other soaps are doing exactly the same thing — speeding up their storylines and piling on many storyline climaxes all at once, their stories are becoming impossible to buy. We are, after all, thinking fans.

For years, we’ve watched and believed plots that would be unlikely or even ridiculous if they actually happened. (Classic examples: back from the dead, the baby she forgot she gave birth to, the here-to-for unknown twin, the interrupted wedding.) But the secret of great soapopera is that the best and brightest writers knew how to craft and pace storylines so that they were EMOTIONALLY believable. (And long ago, the network still let them do this.) Not any more. Not now!

I’ve been watching and believing soaps faithfully for decades! I’ve always believed. In this Alvin and the Chipmunks-esque speeded-up soap world, I don’t believe anymore. And if we, the most faithful fans of soap opera, don’t believe, the end is coming faster than anyone realizes.

Comments

I have two thoughts on the current state of Y&R in specific and soaps in general. I tend to disagree with the opinion that too much story is happening too quickly. I remember the days of Ashley taking months to tell Victor about her first breakdown. In fact, I seem to remember that the critique of Y&R in the 90’s was that the story were too slow and repetitive.

With respect to the character of Victor, I am saddened by the historic loss of the giant of Genoa City’s business community. However, I have begun to think about the idea that certain stories need to come to an end in soaps. For example, I no longer understand the battle between Viki and Dorain on OLTL. Dorian and Viki moved forward, then she left town, and now that she has returned, it is as if she never showed any growth. Similarly, it seems that Victor has had to do increasingly vile things to keep the tension going with Jack. I think breaking up with Ashley after she has gone nuts trying to save Victor and have his kid was just cruel. This action brings Victor back to his origins as the type of guy that chains his wife’s lover in the basement. Long term characters are not interesting if nothing changes to them over time.

Marlena says: Wow, Oliver, I had almost forgotten that Victor was originally evil. I agree characters have to change and grow, but not too much. It depends on the case. (Remember when they made Erica a kidnapper on AMC?)

In order to save soaps, we need a few critical people to care and bring back quality storytelling to the soaps. Anne Sweeney, the President of ABC doesn’t seem to care that the ABC soaps are tanking because she doesn’t fire the head of daytime, Brian Frons. Brian Frons doesn’t seem to care because while every other soap has had changes in the executive producer and head writer positions, GH’s players remain the same. Frons also thinks stunts, celebrity casting and quick gimmicks will raise ratings and not quality storytelling. No amount of writing, calling or emailing seems to change anything. The same tired people keep getting rotated from one soap to another. For daytime to succeed and continue, it needs a HUGE behind the scenes shake-up. Sadly, no one in a position of authority seems to care. So, yes, you’re right, Marlena. The end of soaps is coming sooner than we think.

Oh — and don’t forget firing Greg Vaughan for Jonathan Jackson. Poor Greg. Wonder if the writers will miraculously find Lucky interesting again. Won’t matter — I stopped watching that and all other soaps too. If I want to watch horror shows, there are much better ones out there. That’s not what I want from my soaps.

This column proves that the Marlena that I have loved and respected for so long is still around — the Marlena who calls a spade a spade and doesn’t try to spin it any other way. Oh how I’ve missed you!

I’ve been disturbed and perplexed by all the behind the scenes happenings in recent weeks. I had thought after GL said its goodbyes that we would have a repreive from the behind the scenes drama. Instead, its accelerated. Looks like they’re going full steam ahead toward that iceberg.

So sad and upsetting that a medium that has brought me so much joy for almost four decades is dying before my eyes. Glad you’re finally talking about it.

I don’t know which is more disturbing — the way the Sony brass are treating its top star or the fact Eric Braeden is is talking to every media outlet in the world about it.

Some people are calling Braeden the one actor who can’t be replaced. 34 years ago, the same would likely have been said about George Reinholt. But AW did can him and managed to survive wihtout Steve Frame.

Don’t know if Y&R can pull the same rabbit out of a hat. But it is a curous coincidence that the same executive producer who fired Reinhlot is now the one in charge of Y&R,

Marlena says: James dear, if that Fox guy hadn’t spun the term, “The spin stops here,” then I would have. I have always told the truth and am proud of it! Interesting comparing Eric Braeden to George Reinholt of Steve Frame fame of AW. I loved George madly, madly on AW, and even though my reverred David Canary eventually played the role, no one could ever replace Reinholt in that role — to me! That Rauch is at Y&R now with Braeden could be construed as schadenfreude, but I really feel it is more coincidence — but you are very sharp to have caught that Rauch was present during both controversies, James. Honestly I don’t know who has the ultimate hiring and firing power on Y&R these days. I read Maria Bell had more power than Rauch anyway, and how about Sony? Is Braeden replaceable? One’s opinion derives rom how much one thinks of the actor’s work.

I’ve interviewed Braeden and he is an extraordinarily intelligent and principled man. His contribution to daytime has been invaluable. He is a brilliant actor; certainly there is only one Victor Newman. My bet is that Braeden and Y&R reach an agreement eventually.

I absolutely agree. I think one of the biggest problems with soaps of the new millenium has been all of the behind the scenes interference in the creative process of the shows. I don’t agree with much of Bob Guza’s focus on the mob, but there are other storylines on GH I enjoy, but I think that many times Frons butts into the writing process and forces Guza to change things due to what he wants to see. I also think that Frons favors Guza and Pratt, and neither will ever lose their jobs because they are all buddies behind the scenes. Because of this, the shows are suffering terribly. AMC is one horrible mess, but Chuck Pratt will never be fired as long as Frons is head of ABC Daytime.

I also think that soaps are suffering because of their insistance on relying on focus groups to “know” what a majority of soap viewers want to see. But these focus groups can be just random people who were never soap fans to begin with. Do these people suddenly start watching soaps? The ratings aren’t reflecting that. In the meantime, while catering to the focus groups, the networks are alienating their original audience who isn’t happy with what THEY are seeing.

I long for the days when soaps were about adventure and romance, and good family drama (and by family, I don’t mean like the GODFATHER family). On GH, I miss the Quartermaines, arguably one of the most fun families ever on Daytime TV. But they’ve been reduced to virtually nothing in favor of a crime lord and his extended family and offspring. On the other hand, I have been enjoying Days of our Lives more lately, with the focus on the Dimera/Kiriakis fued, and the fact that Maggie has been getting so much airtime (and Days ratings have been I believe the only daytime soap to improve over the past year)

Either way, I too fear the end of the soap opera is near, and it makes me terribly sad. I’ve been watching soaps off and on my entire life. Soaps used to be such a generational thing, I started watching when my mom would watch GH back in the early 80s. I was young, but somehow I got hooked and kept watching up until now. There were years I quit watching, but I always ended up going back. Because up until recent years, soaps were sort of like a place of comfort and familiarity. Because you knew what to expect and you knew the characters. But it’s just not like that anymore.

Marlena says: Bravo on that last paragraph, Jenn! I concur and personally identify with every word, especially the part about going to soaps for comfort and familiarity.

Soaps (and all scripted television) are theater. And that was the most indelible lesson I learned from my mentor when I was involved in theater – sets and props and special effects can heighten the effects, but the script must be there and the actors must be on point, and they must make the audience BELIEVE.

Thank God for you Marlena. You and other online writers having the nerve to be critical of soaps. Unlike the magazines who basically cater to the network. Almost every show is plot driven, not character driven. They depend on “focus” groups to determine what fans want to see. We are down to seven soaps and I believe before 2011 rolls in we might be down to six or five if people like Brian Frons get his way.

Marlena says: Art, dear, I don’t know how old you are but Marlena is the original!

Good storytelling never goes out of vogue, except in daytime soaps. Not only must the audience believe in the story…but they have to WANT to believe. There has to be a part of the story and a character that touches the heart.: a reason to tune in tommorrow. For ABC soaps, either the plots reek of blatant audience manipulation, BTS politics or now political agenda. A character is the result either of focus group/marketing agenda or a victim of plot contrivances. For the soap I still sort of follow (OLTL), most are either heartless jerks ( Stacy, Todd) , completely brainless (Rex, Gigi), or completely out of their minds ( Blair, Tea). Any likeable ones are usually backburnered or killed for dramatic effect.
Soaps are alive and doing reasonable well in primetime. Even Disney can produce decent youth ones for ABC family. I have to wonder if they aren’t trying to drive them into the ground on purpose.

Well, even with Eric Braden, Y&R’s ratings aren’t stellar anyways. But I can see his point of view of asking him to take a huge cut mid contract. It was what he signed for that term. Now, telling the whole planet about is kinda tacky. I know you wrote about this about Robin Strasser a few months ago. Not calling her tacky but just the premise of it. I figure Y&R will give in to his demands at some point.

Since GL went off the air, I have watched a few soaps but nothing is seeming to hook me. I felt like the new GL fan fiction site got me hooked more. I watched B&B all last week and it seems same ole same ole. Although Susan Flannery always amazes me. It just seems there is gloom at every turn.

It seems both happy yet sad when it feels like I am getting me excited on what the web soaps will offer with Martha Bryne and Crystal Chappell’s series’.

It does stink to see the decline of the industry. Nothing last forever but if daytime is going down the execs and writers need to go down with class. This mob junk and babies all the time is not what fans really want to see.

It is family dynamics, ethnic diversity, even gay and lesbian storylines have been more popular or the couples are. And the soaps do neglect the most popular characters. One example is Luke and Noah. They could showcase them more but instead they are secondary. When the most buzz worthy characters are not shown, the industry fails.

Soaps always work best in multi generational storytelling. But the thing that lacks now is there are no more taboos to be explored at this point. There are no couples to root for because the writers insist on the gloom factors.

Maybe this is a shift for soaps to the web. Maybe this is for a reason like everything in life is. But the way networks are handling it is plain desperate.

I’m not too sure how I feel about all of this. I’m probably being too forgiving since I haven’t watched my cherished soaps since the beginning of the summer and after my break I’m now back full-force. Having had this break in-between seemingly appears to have me eagerly accepting what’s happening on my screen, especially in Y&R’s case. These worldwind story developments that you’ve cited in the span of two weeks just happened to be the two weeks that I started watching again and I’ve been hooked. I’m beginning to ‘accept’ the fact that ‘my’ soaps will never recapture the written brilliance they once were in the early 80s (of course I’m talking about the ABC line-up from ’79 through mid-80s) and I’m currently just going with the flow. I always enjoy reading your column Marlena (always have, always will) and most certainly will continue to do so. Just as I will continue to read differences of opinion on soap message boards. But it’s all negativity all the time. Yes it’s warranted but the negativity has been going on for years and nothing has changed. My advice? I’m taking the laid-back approach and watching my soaps, enjoying them as much as I can. And believe it or not. YES, there ARE moments to enjoy. Give it a whirl! 🙂

The end of “Guiding Light” did it to me. I found myself searching for old episodes at a popular Web site. I viewed a number of scenes, and you can easily see there was a budget to go along with the storytelling. There was a feeling of community. Of life.

And the performances came through — shining brilliantly.

I am disheartened by what has become today’s daytime soaps. What has kept me tuned in — but not much lately! — is that quality of the shows’ casts. But now it doesn’t seem enough.

Marlena says: DSO, dear, of course we keep watching them for the actors! It was the stories that got small! (That’s the final line from Sunset Boulevard, of course!) Seriously, we’ve loved these actors for years. And there are always interesting new ones despite the awful storylines.

The networks and such are run by marketing, accounting and other business type personnel. It’s all about chasing an ever more fickle demographic group and the almighty dollar. Nurturing creative and character driven stories are no longer the rule. It’s all about competing with gross out factor of reality shows and making the quick buck.

These desires blind everyone at the top and they won’t realize what happened until the icy waters of the North Atlantic are swirling around their ankles.

As a long time fan of the genre, I have seen blame spewed in many different directions and many different groups. A majority of the time I have agreed. However, there is one group of people who have escaped unscathed from any criticism. That group is us, the fans themselves.

When we, the fans, would rather watch the spectacles of the OJ trial, car chases, trailer trash fake fight fests and such instead of our soaps, what do we expect from those in charge?

And don’t even get me started on shouting down storylines that bring a show’s ratings up…

Marlena says: Hi Ray! But Ray you and I are both…..big, big fans (and old friends)! I would like to say hello to you next time you are back East…

I wanted to make a few comments. First, Marlena, you are oh-so right about how quickly things happen on Y&R and I truly believe that it is to the show’s detriment.

Soaps are on five days a week. We viewers see most major characters–Victor, Ashley, Jack, i.e–three or four times a week.

And when we see a character go blind, become pregnant by her sister’s husband. Has a miscarriage. Is tried for murder. Is stalked by a mad woman and shot with a high-powered rifle. Is presumed dead, all in a month–it is going to get OLD pronto. Most viewers will quickly become disenchanted with that character and her overwrought life.

No one will care. Viewers will roll their eyes at what is happening on their screens.

Also, have you noticed that nowadays and for a long time now, for the most part, soap characters no longer live like most people? Remember once upon a time, characters would be seen having a meal. Or preparing one. People would visit other characters and we’d see one character take another character’s coat and offer them refreshments.

Remember when soaps gave us a sense of time and temperature? In the winter months, characters would comment on the frigid air and be seen in coats and gloves. Now, people wear skimpy clothes in the middle of Janvier.

Also, on modern soaps, the characters don’t interact, which makes them all seem obsessed and one-note. For characters to be interesting and fully-realized, not only should they deal with their travails, but they should have jobs and show concern for others.

The writing on soaps is bad and sadly, it’s been going on for years and will lead to the death of the genre.

I definitely agree that the end is coming sooner than any of us soap fans might have thought possible. But, and I say this as a true blue soap fan, the stories failed me when they: started having way too many back from the dead stories (actually more than one per soap is ridiculous) and moms who gave birth to not only one but two forgotten babies (Viki/OLTL). And the problem is the soaps started not even bothering to respect the fans enough to even try to write a plausible story. For example, OLTL never explained how Victor Lord was still alive and how Mitch L. was still alive to help him cut Natalie’s heart out in a barn coverted to a state of the art O.R. We were just supposed to accept that it had happened. But this thinking fan needs to know how or it just doesn’t wash.

And for years, we soap fans were told to suspend disbelief and suck it up because “it’s only a soap” . I get irritated when I hear the phrase “it’s only a soap” as if soap operas have no standards they need to be held to-well that’s just demeaning to the genre and it’s fans.

And yet, bad writing and poor production values are only part of why the genre is all but dead. I have at least 5 other competing programs to watch. House repair, cooking,reruns of Law and Order or CSI, Reality shows on Bravo and classic movies on AMC. Not to mention movies streamed directly to me at the punch of a button (Netfix rocks!). Not only that but I’ve renewed my gym membership and joined a volunteer group to work in a homeless shelter. But I don’t regret nor am I ashamed to have been a soap fan.

Marlena says: Of course, Cherry, everyone has a different threshold of believing. All our soaps have certainly asked us to believe things we individually can never accept. On OLTL for example, I never bought airhead-y Natalie as Viki’s daughter, Jessica’s “lost twin.” She isn’t anything like Viki or Clint! I hardly bought all Viki’s add-on children: even Megan, as played very Viki-like by the wonderful magnificent Jessica Tuck. But in this column, I’m not talking about individual beliefs, which everyone has their own rights to have or not have. I’m talking about Y&R, a soap which, as if in a panic, speeded up its otherwise believable storylines all in two weeks, to try and capture the viewers of the simultaneously cancelled Y&R. My friend Chrissie (above) was brought back to the show by all of these fireworks!

Of course, the ridiculous pacing is just one of the causes of the end. There are zillions. Cherry, I’m glad you watch other networks and use your former soap time well. But Marlena has written about soaps for the balance of her long journalism career. It’s very difficult for me to avert my eyes now. More on this and my personal feelings about what to do about a lifetime soap addiction in a future column. But Cherry, as always, even if you don’t watch soaps, I love that you still read the column.

I really want to write a long reply soon to Marlena’s on point column about the mess Y&R is in but I had to take a quick moment to say that I found myself watching this old ATWT clip this afternoon, and I was struck by the fact that in this one single episode of ATWT (marking Kim and Bob’s renewing their marriage vows) there was more love — and romance, between MULTIPLE couples on the show back then — than we tend to get in a YEAR of episodes on Y&R today. In fact, today, if we have one or two couples with even a semblance of a real, can-miss-a-moment love story going on a single soap, it’s something to be remarked upon.

It’s really as complicated and as simple as that. Just one soap head writer who really, truly loves and respects the genre needs to figure this simple formula out AND have a daytime network chief who really loves and respects the genre support him or her in getting back to writing well plotted, well-thought out storylines with good actors and the ratings problem — and the panic and hysteria driving it — will resolve itself.

Marlena says: Hi Renee. I watched this clip and sobbed. OMG!

Not just for Doug, for all of us who love soaps that are all about love! As if any self-directed daytime executive would bet his career on what you (and I) feel is the right thing!

I feel bad for the issues of Eric Braeden and his exit. I don’t know how this will impact Y&R. However, Days ratings have been about the same or even a few tenths better without Marlena and John. Now, I can’t say one person alone has helped the ratings but Crystal Chappell had something to do with the ratings boost.

There is just too many exits going on. People soap hopping. Even on ATWT, they are using Lynn Herring for short term roles. Just a lot of hype for a few months. Although it is great to see great actors on the shows, it is still bad to use them for a few months.

Y&R is going to go with Tucker—-I don’t know how this is going to sit well with Y&R viewers. Is Victor indeed the biggest assett to Y&R? We are going to find out soon. And will his exit affect future exits.

I remember a time on GL when Laura Wright left. Then. Jerry Ver Dorn and Michelle and Danny. Too many hits hurt GL that year and it sunk further down unfortunately. It seems the execs or heads of SONY might be demolishing a top rated show. Although I use top rated in a consolation prize sort of way. When there were 16 soaps, I am sure #1 meant something. #1 in soaps means you might last 2 more years than the rest. And it is sad!

You’re so right! I don’t watch Y&R, I haven’t for years, but I do know that EB was a fixture on Y&R. I loved the Q’s on GH, I remember when they hit town. I loved when GH was actually about a HOSPITAL, doctors, nurses, their patients and their affairs. Not so much now. Its a big pile of blech, IMHO.

I do not like how writers play fast and loose with time frames, they always have to a certain extent and as a lifelong soap fan, I’ve come to accept it, even though I don’t like it so much. OLTL asking me to believe that Todd and Tea have a teenage daughter, is beyond the pall. Furthermore, I really don’t like a writer telling me what I’ve been watching for the last fifteen or so years really didn’t happen. Its insulting.

I’m about done with soap opera, these days. It makes me sad, but what to do when we’re told that if we don’t suck it up and try to like it, we’ll have no soap opera’s to watch? Pity that TPTB can’t get that soap fans invest in their favorite characters long term and that its really hard to invest in anything when the next HW tells you that you got it all wrong, because they have a new vision and continuity be damned.

Rinse and repeat, that’s what’s killing our favorite shows. I don’t even think its greed, as much as its arrogance gone mad on the parts of TPTB. It seems like they’re blaming the very fans that have kept daytime drama on the air all these years,

Well said Marlena. Just look at the mess that is AMC. It’s horrible storytelling at it’s best. Mr. Pratt has totally ruined Agnes Nixon’s precious gem which is now unwatchable.

Good storytelling is the key to any soap. You can bring on the best actors in the business but unless the story is there it doesn’t matter who the actors are.

I, like many, started watching soaps with my mother and even though there were periods when I was not happy with certain shows I could find some good in them and a character that I love but in AMC’s case there isn’t one thing good about this show. There isn’t one character that I recognize or like. Brian Frons has taken his “favorites” and forced them down our throats and made the rest of the cast suffer for it. I believe he hired Pratt to put an end to this show because he certainly didn’t hire him to help it and this move to LA is a joke in that I don’t think anyone will be watching in a couple of months so they’re completely wasting their money.

They are now talking about cancelling OLTL, a show which is way better than AMC. It’s totally insane.

I think Frons must have something big on Anne Sweeney or she isn’t the powerhouse that people say she is.

I now watch Y&R (just can’t stand AMC anymore) and I see a soap that I’m familar with. No it’s not great but it is character driven and gives me stories and characters I can at least enjoy (at least I don’t want to throw something at my TV). I see the changes in Days and see what a good team can do to bring a soap back and I only wish ABC would do that with AMC but as long as Frons is running the show it will never happen.

I think soaps are so busy worrying about the budget, they have forgotten to tell good stories. Early soaps were just voices on the radio. I know viewers want big sets, etc… but i think if there was a really well-told story- viewers might return.

I think Paranormal Activity has shown, you don’t need to break the budget get people watching. You just need a compelling story.

In recent years, GH has lured me back with the returns of Tristan Rogers and Emma Samms and each time i return, i wonder if GH intended to get me to stay or drive me further away. If they thought i would continue to watch a show that rips apart the things i loved about it- they are more clueless then they appear.

They cater to spoiled actors, spoiled writers, and a group of producers that excel in destroying what makes soaps unique- it’s history. They don’t care about the fans or the show- so, why should we watch? It’s ironic because without soaps- there will be a bunch of unemployed actors, writers, and who would hire that group of clueless producers? I’ll enjoy my free hour of time GH used to occupy and i hope the folks at GH enjoy unemployment.

The Old and The Tired…. That’s how I’ve been feeling looking at Y&R over the past year. Aside from the annual holiday episodes I see few reasons to continue to tune in the New Year. Nothing that I am watching on the show today give me much hope that better storylines are on the horizon in 2010. And the thought makes me want to stop watching at the close of this year. Take it off my dvr rotation. Call it quits.
They say a sign of insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over again and keep expecting a different result. That’s how I am feeling when I watch this show: like I tune in virtually every day wanting it to give me a reason to hang in there, but instead I just get more evidence why I should call it quits. It makes me feel sad because, aside from perhaps GH, there is virtually no other soap on the air today that I feel connected to after the many years I’ve spent watching daytime television. No soap supercouple that keeps me glued to my television set. No soap family that feels like old friends. When did Y&R and other soaps begin self-destructing and is there truly nothing that can be done to stop it?